Genre, audiences and institutions

Genre is a relevant concept for audiences because not only does it allow them to recognize the plot of the film, but it gives them the opportunity to either watch the trailer, browse the film web page or view the posters of the film and decide whether or not the film will suit their interest.

The film production companies rely on genre heavily to find a target audience. It allows them to know who will be watching it and how much they might make from the film. They are also able to know how to advertise their film and go about the media text distribution.

Genre enables film distribution companies to choose a specific target audience that are most likely to go and watch the film, as well as aiding them in designing the campaign posters and the webpage for the film seeing as they are aware of qualities that need to be included in portraying the genre of the film. For example, thriller posters usually include dark colours to convey tension such as in the Insidious: Chapter 2 Poster. However, a comedy movie like We Are the Millers use bright colours to suggest an entirely different mood.